Timeline of the years-long Miller-Pettersson Vancouver Canucks drama

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The Vancouver Canucks have gone through their fair share of drama over the past few years, but one storyline stands above all as a constant: the rift between co-stars Elias Pettersson and J.T. Miller.

It’s long been known that the two players aren’t the best of friends, but this year, the relationship has exploded publicly, to the point where co-existence seems impossible.

With a trade likely around the corner, this is the full timeline of events that led us to this point.

The beginning of it all

When the Canucks traded two draft picks and minor league goalie Marek Mazanec to the Tampa Bay Lightning for J.T. Miller, some thought it was a steep price to pay.

But over the next few years, Miller proved to be well worth that price. He grew on and off the ice, setting new career highs in points and emerging as a leader.

During the 2021 season, many Canucks were infected with COVID-19. When they were forced to return to play, it was Miller who spoke up for the group.

“I don’t feel ready at all,” explained the Ohio native.

He stood up in a big way for his sick teammates. It marked the official arrival of Miller as one of this group’s most outspoken leaders.

Miller’s fiery attitude on full display

As Miller seized a bigger role on the team, his leadership style began to reveal itself. He was hard on his teammates, including the soft-spoken Pettersson.

Brad Richardson was in that dressing room for part of the 2021-22 season and explained what he saw on the Missin Curfew podcast.

“I’ll be super honest with you. I was in that dressing room with those guys. I love J.T., love him. He’s a f***ing animal. But I even told him. I said, ‘Hey, you’re too hard on this kid. Yeah, you’re too hard on him.’ And I said, ‘I know you’re saying exactly what I think, but he’s a kid that doesn’t take when you’re on him.’ When you’re on him, he’s gonna shut it down. I told him, like, ‘Hey, you’re gonna lose this guy if you keep doing it.’”

Prior to the 2022-23 season, the Canucks and Miller agreed on a seven-year contract. It was a decision that eventually led to captain Bo Horvat being priced out and traded.

Miller’s aggressive style became more public. There was an altercation with popular veteran Luke Schenn during the first game of the 2022-23 season.

Later in the season, Miller screamed at goalie Colin Delia for being slow to go to the bench when the Canucks needed an extra attacker.

In January 2023, the Canucks traded Horvat, further elevating Miller’s voice in the dressing room.

Shortly after, Miller and Pettersson commented publicly on their relationship, speaking positively while acknowledging things hadn’t always been picture-perfect.

“We’ve had our differences, maybe in some games, but I mean, he’s a teammate that I respect and yeah, he’s someone I like to play hockey with,” Pettersson said on the 32 Thoughts podcast. “Yeah, there’s a lot of speculation, obviously a lot, but he’s a teammate that I respect… it’s not an issue.”

“Petey and my relationship has come a long way. We’re still working at it. We’re completely different people, you know what I mean? You’re not going to be BFFs with everybody, but at the same time you come to work together. We are polar opposites in a lot of ways, but we’re working at it. We’ve come a long way,” said Miller to Sportsnet’s Iain MacIntyre.

Winning cures all — including this ongoing feud

The Canucks started the 2023-24 season on fire, getting off to the best start in franchise history.

From October until January, Miller and Pettersson made up one of the NHL’s best one-two punches down the middle. Near the end of January, Pettersson’s numbers started to fall off, potentially related to a knee injury he revealed at the end of the season.

Despite Pettersson’s decline, the team kept winning. Management gave the Swedish star a massive $92.8 million contract and while he never found his game, the Canucks made it to the second round.

Things were looking good in Vancouver. Both Pettersson and Miller were locked up long-term and the team was on an upward trajectory.

Pettersson-Miller feud explodes

Heading into this season, the Canucks didn’t see all the adversity, including an increasingly public spat between two of their best players, on the horizon.

As the team struggled to begin 2024-25, the Miller-Petttersson drama reared its ugly head once again.

In late October, the two players were involved in a practice incident that saw them exchange a few slashes, above the ordinary competitive level of practice. Everyone dismissed it as normal competitive juices overflowing but the next day, they had another spirited rep in a battle drill.

Despite players and coaches dismissing it, the practice incident was the talk of Vancouver. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman stoked the flames when he dropped a bomb on his 32 Thoughts podcast: Canucks management had enlisted Miller and captain Quinn Hughes to push the still-struggling Pettersson and “toughen him up.”

“I think they said, ‘You guys are the ones that are going to have to do it.’ Miller’s obviously taking that very literally… I don’t think [Pettersson] always likes it. I think they’re hoping he will understand that it’s to make them win.”

Just a few weeks later, head coach Rick Tocchet benched Miller for the third period of the team’s game against the Nashville Predators. The very next day, the Canucks announced Miller was taking a personal leave of absence. He missed 10 games.

During Miller’s time away from the team, his name started to be mentioned more often in trade rumours. Discussion of the rift began once again.

Upon his return, Tocchet added fuel to the fire by keeping the two players on separate power-play units.

Former coaches, teammates, and others shared their two cents on podcasts and radio shows. Bruce Boudreau said he knew there had always been problems. Horvat said the talk was overblown.

Eventually, Hughes and Tocchet spoke publicly about the rift.

“One hundred per cent, I believe it’s workable. I know it’s workable,” Hughes said. “We saw it last year very evidently. I think both of them have been going through their own struggles this year. I believe in both of them. I think they’re great players and great people. There’s times where we all get into it, but it’s a family in here.”

Hughes’ admission didn’t get Miller or Pettersson to address it, with the latter even saying people should stop “trying to make sh*t up.” Miller seemed similarly frustrated with what he claimed was a media-driven story.

“I can bring out Petey and we can do the interview together if that’ll make you guys happy.”

Maybe that would’ve been a good idea.

As both players struggled and the losses continued to pile up, trade rumours only grew louder. The Canucks got close to completing a deal for each player, Miller to New York and Pettersson to Carolina, only for them to fall through at the last second. The duo’s days together on this team seem numbered.

Canucks president takes to the press

All of this leads us to this week when president Jim Rutherford spoke honestly about the rift to The Globe and Mail‘s Gary Mason.

“I felt like for a long time that there was a solution here because everybody has worked on it, including the parties involved,” said Rutherford.

“But it only gets resolved for a short period of time, and then it festers again, and so it certainly appears like there’s not a good solution that would keep this group together.”

Rutherford admitted it’s affected the team this season and has seemingly settled on the idea of a trade as a resolution. That deal will mark the end of a years-long saga.

When hockey historians look back on this team years from now, the question “What if Miller and Pettersson could get along?” may well be one of the biggest what-ifs in Canucks history.

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